Thursday, December 26, 2013

The Caribbean Med School Option - LOOKING BETTER EVERYDAY...CUT OUT THE FAT.. SKIP THE 200K-300K DEBT.

Hi all,
I apologize for my silence.  I been away for a while.  Okay so her goes. I have been positioning myself for Med school. And by that I mean, taking the MCAT the summer of fall of 2014. When suddenly I got an idea. "I DON'T WANT TO TAKE THE MCAT".... I have so much going on that I just don't want to add the stress of MCAT and the U.S. Med School App process in the mix.  " I mean the" political U.S. Med School App process GAME!!!!!" I just want to cut out the fat.  I already know that I want to be a clinician and not do unnecessary research. NOT TO MENTION THE 300K IN DEBT.... NOT NICE.

So I came to the conclusion that maybe The Caribbean Med School Option is more my speed.  I need to speed up this process and not be dragging along as a Mom, Wife and Premed student forever!!!!! Also I don't feel like after all I've been through that I need to prove my passion for medicine to anyone.  I've made it through several tough and extreme trials and have persevered, and that's proof enough.  Why should the ADCOMM at any U.S. school have my destiny in thier hands.  I AM WIDE OPEN AT THIS POINT.

A good friend of mine has a PHD in chemistry and said suddenly while studying for the MCAT, I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS...And voila..... she is starting is part of the first incoming class of 2014 at a great Caribbean Med School in January.  I am so excited for her, that I feel like it's me.  I also know that "IT NEEDS TO WORK FOR YOU AS MUCH AS IT WORKS FOR THE SCHOOL". That is not always the case in the U.S.  I am not caught up in University Names and history.  Means nothing without the USMLE step 1 and 2 leveling ground.  Let's face it, it all comes down to one thing USMLE and that's all.

I am making all the contacts that I possibly can. I am interested in General Surgery - leading to a fellowship in Bariatric Surgery, Trauma Surgery or Emergency Medicine in that order.  My true passion is Bariatric Surgery or Trauma surgery.  With the burnout rates involved in Trauma Surgery, I would have a better quality of life in Bariatric Surgery.  I am intrigued at how they change the lives of people that are slowly dying from multiple illnesses related to obesity. So I recently connected with a Bariatric Surgeon and asked if i could shadow her and she said absolutely and I am so ELATED ABOUT THAT.... 

Well I have a very full schedule for the Spring of 2014 and am really glad that I am almost completed with my 1st goal.  Everyday getting closer and closer. No one would have been able to tell me that I would go through all the obstacles that I have encountered and had to maneuver to make this dream happen. I am glad that God has brought me this far and will take me all the way.  Only God can carry you over Mountains!!

Friday, September 13, 2013

Healthcare Desparities - KILLER OF YOUNG BLACK WOMEN!!!!

It is with great sadness that I remember my dear friend "pretty girl".  She was a person that was so dear to me and my husband.  We were mentors and helpers to her inside and outside of church.  I have known "pretty girl"" for at least 13 years.  She was a very sweet young woman.  As a victim of MISDIAGNOSED BREAST CANCER, she was cut down in her prime.  She was in her early fourties and a mother of a beautiful 10 year old daughter from Harlem, NY.  

It all started with a radio show in 2011 that taught her how to search for a lump in her breast.  She actually found a lump and that began the deadly downward spiral of MISDIAGNOSES. "Hi "pretty girl" what's going on"? "Oh girl I found a lump in my breast and I went to get a mamo and they said that it is a (readers brace yourself) a FIBROID IN MY BREAST". "oh no "pretty girl" , that doesn't sound right. I think you should get a 2nd opinion".  

Now "pretty girl" was a very bright and extremely kind person.  Her only crime was that she was a victim of poverty and had a history of "mental illness" and lived in the Ghetto.  What's even sadder is that she searched for a physician that would actually take on her case after the initial physician's MISDIAGNOSES.  He went on vacation after telling her that it WAS NOT CANCER.  After a 7-9 month delay getting treatment in the NYC metro area, because Dr's would not start chemo treatment, she found a Dr. that would treat her. She was a finally started on Chemotherapy and  by then a mastectomy was needed and done.  

Flash forward 6 months later, the CANCER RETURNS WITH A VENGENCE AND SHE IS WORSE THAN BEFORE...I metastisized to her bones and possibly lungs because of ongoing respiratory distress.  I saw her in April at church for a reunion service and noticed that she had lost a lot of weight and learned in August that she was in fact dying of breast cancer.  

The thing that was so crazy is that the cancer did not kill her it was Sepsis due to a recent nosocomial infection from a recent stay in the hospital for pneumonia. August 27th I spoke to her briefly and she said "I am sooooo extra weak". I said "go back to the hospital, do you think you still have pneumonia"?  "I don't know". "I can't even walk". Earlier that week we were trying to get her to the Cancer Centers of America in Phildelphia, but she was too ill to be moved.

I said, "I want to see you what is your new address?"  She said "No meet me at the hospital, I want you to come". "Okay I'm gonna get ready let me know whe you will leave or be on your way"  The next day she was put on a respirator after I called the nurse and demanded some treatment for her to breathe.  Just 14 days later "pretty girl" was gone.  

She was tired and she said to me the day before her last hospitalization that she has been sick a long time and it is only getting worse.  My heart is broken because I've read and watched several prominant stars and other races that get the best treatment for cancer that has been irradicated or gone into remission.  Another one of ours cut off because she was not important enough to treat because she was not important to America.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

CAN YOU SAY DEAN'S LIST!!!!!!

Hope everyone enjoyed thier summmer!!!! Mine was rocky as usual.... trying to make a dollar out of 15cents..... I'm sure that sounds crazy to folks born after 1980.... ahaha... LOL.. Anyway.  Let's see where do I start. Oh I remember! CAN YOU SAY DEAN'S LIST?  ...... YAHOOOOOO!!!  " AND YES MR. SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE I WILL ACCEPT ALL OF THEM...." God has done it again folks... I am really blessed to be on the Dean's List after all of my hard work... at least it it recognized by "SOMEBODY"... Sheeesh.. 

My summer came and left. Not without  the tragic loss of my other grandmother. Thank God she is not suffering anymore. It was very difficult to watch her so ill for so long.  In the mean time I am getting ready for my (2)," I repeat" ONLY (2) classes.  I was in such a whirlwind this summmer that I had to get and extension for 3 sciences to complete them by this month and still registered for the fall. Nevertheless. I am dilligently job hunting.... I KNOW IT SOUNDS LIKE ALOT... "BECAUSE IT IS"..... 

We are planning a move out of state. I can't wait to be able to live better without the pressure of the inflated cost of living in the northeast.  I am excited about Med School in the Southeast even the possibility of a HBCU Medical School. THAT WOULD BE A DREAM... although my dream school is not an HBCU at all. I really agree with thier mantra for community medicine for the underserved.  Too far west though.... 

Well I better get to bed. We are taking my 7 year old... Soon to be 8 to Six Flags Great Adventures today for the last day of his summer vacation.  After Dorney Park last week.... I needed a week off to rest from the exhaustion of walking all over the place.... It was so crowded it felt like we parked in another state... I know it's crazy right?.... Alright folks.... good night for now...:)

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

BACK AND READY!!!!

Hi all,
Sorry for the delay.... Went through some crazy family trials. Family is first and you can't neglect the reality of this as a non-trad mom and wife.  Trials make you stronger and change is a blessing too.  Sometimes it's only your attitude that changes, nevertheless, it's CHANGE!!!

Well getting geared up to complete all of the part 2's this summer, A&PII, G-ChemII and Micro.  would have been done and taking Orgo II this semester, but had to withdraw last summer.  Anyhoooo! I am taking Orgo I and Physics II in the fall.  TALK ABOUT EXCITED.  THIS MEANS THAT I AM THAT MUCH CLOSER TO MY GOAL OF APPLYING TO MED SCHOOL IN 2014.... YAYYY!!!.  Of course my goal was to apply much sooner, but life just get's in the way or your plans.  I believe that God is the author and finisher of your plans..... Rather he gets into your plans and FINISHES THEM..... Right that's it!!.

I am really narrowing my search in terms of med schools.  Well I live in the north east.  No shortage there! But still, I am primarily considering schools that are family or non-trad friendly.... IF YOU DON'T VALUE ME, .... THEN I DON'T WANT YOU EITHER!!! LOL.... hahah.HELLOOOO.. Well afterall it is my destiny and I am in control of it not a school or it's reputation. Does nothing for me in the end. I just need that one break. Can only attend one school at a time.  I am even considering carribean schools, but the only problem is that my son is only seven and he needs his mama.  I would have to make a big adjustment and take him with me.... NOT!!!

Anyway, I was checking out some schools in the carribean and wandered across a intro commercial online and guess what?  I saw a friend that I just met 3 years earlier at a med school open house. Wow!!! it's a small world isn't it?  You never know... I mean never.  We she is a single mom and dared to persue her dreams of being a physician after her divorce.  I said "go head girl" I see you.... MOVE FORWARD MY SISTER!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!.  NO SHORTAGE HERE!!!! HAHA... Sorry for the venting.  What's crazy is that she was just telling me her situation and why she actually got divorced and why she tranferred from a previous carrib med school.  Then "BAMMMMM"  I see her in an online med school commercial... I'm not mad at yah!!!!. YAHOOOO!!! DO IT, DO IT , DO IT!!!.. By the way she works at the NIH... HELLOOOOO!!  GOD WILL OPEN UP A DOOR FOR YOU!!!!  BLESS YAH!!!